Gandhis character and leadership style

Gandhis character and leadership style Below analysis of case study from movie Gandhi is based on life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. M.K. Gandhi after a successful fight against indiscrimination in South Africa devoted rest of his life to lead India to freedom. In the forthcoming sections detailed leader profile of M.K. Gandhi based on observations will be generated. Different leadership aspects, principles, effectiveness, and styles used by Gandhiji in his fight for the independence of India will be demonstrated. Also, part of focus will be the reaction of followers and peers on a very different perspective of leadership and its impact on British Empire. Entire analysis is supported by existing theories, research evidences and empirically grounded data about leadership. Leadership concepts According to Yukl (2010) Leadership can be defined as the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives. Movie Gandhi based on M.K Gandhis life over the length has very well depicted the various dimensions and aspects of leadership. It portrays the birth of great leader under adverse circumstances, who later on transforms into exceptional leader to lead India to its long awaited independence from British Empire. Movie very well captures number of instances in the life of M.K.Gandhi which have an influential impact on the masses as well as on the viewers. How a leader can effectively and efficiently lead people with an unconventional style and what differentiates a good leader from an extraordinary leader are the highlights of the movie. Over the time different flavours of leadership style under different circumstances can be observed. The legacy of Gandhijis leadership remains one of the most powerful forces for peace in the world, and this film is a superb tribute to it. Charismatic, transformational, ethical leadership aspects are among the few that are quite significantly depicted in the movie. Use of Power and Influence tactics Power is useful for understanding how people are able to influence each other in organization (Mintzberg,1983). Power involves the capacity of one party (the agent) to influence another party (the target). French and Raven (1959) developed taxonomy to classify different types of power according to their source. The taxonomy includes five different types of power as below Reward Power The target person complies in order to obtain reward controlled by the agent. Coercive Power The target person complies in order to avoid punishment controlled by the agent. Legitimate Power The target person complies because he/she believes the agent has the right to make request and the target person has the obligation to comply Expert Power The target person complies because he/she believes that the agent has special knowledge about the best what to do something. Referent Power The target person complies because he/she admires or identifies with the agent and wants to gain the agents approval. Gandhis possession of power was more of a referent kind. As observed in the movie Gandhi always identified himself among the masses. He fought the battle in South Africa with a tie and a suit but when he came to India he changed his attire to that of an Indian peasant. Before he started his mission in Indian Gandhi went across all over India to meet people and know them. For this very reason in one of the scene Gandhi while addressing people says that, the battle for Indian Independence can be fought by being one among them. As illustrated by Dubrin the end results of a leaders influence outcomes are a function of the influence tactics he or she uses. The influence tactics are in turn moderated, or affected by, the leaders traits and behaviours and the situation. He further adds that the three possible outcomes are commitment, compliance, and resistance ( as shown in the figure on next page). Commitment represents the highest degree of success; the target of the influence attempt is enthusiastic about carrying out the request and makes it a full effort. Pretty much like an outcome of the non co-operation movement. Compliance means that the influence attempt is partially successful. The target person is apathetic (not overjoyed) and makes only a modest effort to carry out the request. This type was illustrated when in some parts the violence broke out in Hindu-Muslim. There were no signs of complete resistance where in an absolutely unsuccessful attempt was made. The model shown in figure on next page illustrates the possible end results of a leaders influence. Gandhi power and Influence tactics_1.png 3.1) DESCRIPTION AND EXPLANATION OF INFLUENCE TACTICS Influence tactics are classified as those that are essentially ethical and honest versus those that are essentially manipulative and devious. Gandhiji has always used his ideals and principle in which he had beliefs to influence people. Non-violence was one of the biggest influencing tools that Gandhiji used throughout. Gandhi always practiced as well as preached the importance of honesty, self dependency and courage. He had a completely ethical and honest approach to his ideologies. Considering that his influence tactics falls in to the category of Essentially Ethical and Honest Tactics. Essentially Ethical and Honest Tactics Used with tact, diplomacy, and good intent, the tactics described in this section can facilitate getting others to join you in accomplishing a worthwhile objective. These tactics vary in complexity and the time required to develop them. 1. Leading by Example and Respect. A simple but effective way of influencing group members is leading by example, or leading by acting as a positive role model. Being respected facilitates leading by example. Gandhi use to weave his clothes by himself. He appealed people to stop using western clothes and use the clothes made in India. He got a terrific response from the people wherein thousands of them burnt their clothes. 2. Using Rational Persuasion. To implement this tactic, the leader uses logical arguments and factual evidence to convince another person that a proposal or request is workable and likely to result in goal attainment. Rational persuasion is likely to be the most effective with people who are intelligent and rational. A major intervening variable in rational persuasion is the credibility of the influence agent. A subtle factor is that credible people are perceived as having higher power. Gandhi was an astute individual he always used simple facts and witty humour to convince another person. He had knowledge of law and during many incidences particularly a court scene in champaner where he refuses to pay for bail, refrain from leaving the village as well and agrees to stay in jail knowing it would be difficult for court to keep him. Also many such logical arguments can be cited in the movie during his negotiations with the British, his comrade, press people and general public. He backe d up his belief in non-violence by providing the evidence of his struggle for civil rights movement in South Africa. Gandhis character and leadership style South African president recently quoted pertaining to Gandhiji You produced a lawyer and we produced a leader out of him. Indeed, the first colours of this great leaders charisma were evident in South Africa when he was thrown out of first class compartment on racial basis. Gandhijis self respect and an absolutely intolerant attitude to injustice made him to take a stand to proclaim the rights to be treated as equal citizen of Empire by peaceful means. He had a completely impartial view and courage to an extent that he was willing to take a blow but not accept injustice. His strong belief on the cause he was working on helped him to gain faith of the people and he gave them a way. This eventually led to reconsideration and abolition of act pertaining to racial discrimination of Indians in South Africa. According to Weber (1947) charisma occurs during a social crisis, when a leader emerges with a radical vision that offers a solution to the crisis, and attracts followers who believes in the vision Particular situation in South Africa was emergent where in Gandhiji came out to be a strong and a highly charismatic leader. He had a vision to fight against the indiscriminate rules and eradicate them which he did successfully. Self- confidence, strong conviction in his beliefs, and high expectations and confidence on the abilities of the followers are clear evidences of a strong charismatic leader which Gandhi showed. Evidence is very well supported by current theories of charismatic leadership.. On his return to India, Gandhiji was looked upon with lots of hopes and expectation especially after the triumph in South Africa and his writing skills. In India he faced with a broader vision of a Home Rule Movement. Gandhijis participation in peasants problems against landlord in champaner signifies to large extend his stubborn nature and belief to fight against indiscrimination and injustice. It started when an individual approached Gandhiji with the problems the peasants in champaner were facing. Gandhijis presence there to fight the problem clearly demonstrated the importance, respect, individual attention and consideration to an individual. His rational approach towards the problem was very different and intellectually stimulating than what was expected, but it yield results. Victory in champaner had a message that speeded all across India, it was a new way to fight and win. Above observations guides towards the Transformation Leadership characteristics that Gandhiji demonstrated. According to Bass, transformational leadership can be defined based on the impact that it has on followers. Transformational leaders, Bass suggested, garner trust, respect and admiration from their followers. Various components that are part of transformational leadership are presented on the next page. 4.1) Transformational Leadership:- Bass suggested that there were four different components of transformational leadership. Idealized Influence The transformational leaders serves as a role model for followers. Because followers trust and respect the leader, they emulate the leader and internalize his or her ideals. Before Gandhi came to India he was already known for his writing and non-violent movement in South Africa. After he successfully fought to waver of the taxes for the peasants people of the entire nation looked up to him. Individualized Consideration Transformational leadership also involves offering support and encouragement to individual followers. In order to foster supportive relationships, transformational leaders keep lines of communication open so that followers feel free to share ideas and so that leaders can offer direct recognition of each followers unique contributions. Gandhiji believed that to effectively lead people he need to know and understand them at the grass root level. His expeditions to discover India illustrate the same. He believed that effective communication was a must to convey the message to the masses. And true representative of people should stand with the people and only than they will be able to face any challenges together. Inspirational Motivation Transformational leaders have a clear vision that they are able to articulate to followers. These leaders are also able to help followers experience the same passion and motivation to fulfil these goals. Gandhi always made his vision very clear and also the means by which he wanted to achieve it. He had a principle based approach which suited the people of India and people started looking up to him as the saw the feasibility of the goal achievement. Intellectual Stimulation Transformational leaders not only challenge the status quo; they also encourage creativity among followers. The leader encourages followers to explore new ways of doing things and new opportunities to learn. Gandhi used his writings and speeches to stimulate the masses. His writings were so impressive that people who were non aggressive in nature actually started believing that they could be a part of movement and contribute. Below figure illustrates the transformational characteristics transformational Leadership.jpg 4.2 Ethical Leadership As can be observed throughout the movie Gandhijis battle was totally based on moral values, ethics, spirituality, family values and religious insights. He based his leadership on these grounds and people called him a Mahatma meaning a great soul. He always encouraged ethical practises like self discipline and dependency (weaving his own clothes), abolition of untouchability, truth and love. Gandhi had a high impact on the people because of his ethical characteristics of his leadership resulting into people giving up the foreign clothes and started weaving their own khadi clothes. Below figure shows the various aspects of ethical leadership. Ethical leadership theories fall into two categories Leaders conduct and Leaders character Leaders conduct Consequences (Theological theories) Focus on what is right and what is wrong. Below table illustrates the different type of theological theories. Ethical egoism An individual should act to create the greatest good for themselves. A leaders should take a career that they would selfishly enjoy (Avolio Locke, 2002). This is closely related to transactional leadership theories. Utilitarianism We should act to create the greatest good for the greatest number. Maximize the social benefits while minimizing the social costs (Shumann, 2001). Altruism This is the opposite of Ethical Egoism and is concerned with showing the best interest for others even when it runs contrary to self-interest. Authentic transformational leadership is based on altruistic behaviour (Bass, Steidlmeier, 1999). Gandhi particularly demonstrated altruism in his acts. He fasted for several days to drive people towards his purpose of stopping violence. He never cared what impact it had on his own health, he persistently strived till he could see a desired outcome. Duty (Deontological Theories) This is telling the truth, keeping promises, being fair, independent of the consequences. Gandhi always preached honest and was completely unbiased in his approach. This was very much evident when he asks his wife to leave the house when she disagrees to clean the toilets. Actions should not infringe on others rights and should not further the moral rights of others. Gandhis struggle for a civil rights movement in South Africa was a part of his belief that such unjust laws cant be forced on people and they should be treated equally on moral and humanitarian basis. Leaders Character:- Virtue-based theories These are not innate, but can be acquired. They are rooted in heart of the individual and in their disposition. It focuses on telling people what to be as opposed of what to do Examples include courage, temperance, generosity, self-control, honesty, sociability, modesty, fairness, and justice. This theory is about being and becoming a worthy human being. Above attributes of virtue based theories can be perfectly related to Gandhis behaviour, belief and preaching on numerous occasions throughout the movie. Analysis of followers Initially in South Africa the followers were sceptical about Gandhi resulting into a rather low turnout in one of the meeting he called for. His adamant attitude to burn the passes even after getting repeated blows from the police had a message in it. The rule was barred and people opened up to Gandhis courage. They started believing and trusting him for fighting against the civil rights movement in South Africa. Gandhi was successful and emerged as a popular leader. Even before he came to India he was a hero for his triumph in South Africa. Gandhi wanted people in India to identify him as one among them, so he went to the people, heard their grievances and fought with them. Such type of attributes has a high impact on people as they start identifying the leader among themselves, started perceiving Gandhi to be trustworthy thereby giving up autonomy. Gandhis leadership style was more of a followers-centric type. Followers who perceive the leader as responsible for making decisions (U hl-Bien Pillai, 2007) are less likely to take an active role in the decision-making process, thereby giving up autonomy. Robert E. Kelley described five styles of followership categorized according to two dimensions. The first dimension: Independent, critical thinking, versus dependent, uncritical thinking. Independent thinking recalls the discussion of mindfulness; independent thinkers are mindful of the effects of peoples behaviour on achieving organizational goals. A dependent, uncritical thinker does not consider possibilities, does not contribute to the cultivation of the organization, and accepts the leaders ideas without thinking characterized by a need for constant supervision and prodding. The second dimension: Active versus passive behaviour. An active individual participates fully in the organization, and a passive individual is characterized by a need for constant supervision and prodding. The extent to which one is active or passive and is critical, independent thinker versus a dependent, uncritical thinker determines a type of followership style. Below figure depicts the dimensions and the types of followers. Followers.png Below table illustrates a brief description of type of followers. Alienated Follower Alienated followers are often effective followers who have experienced setbacks and obstacles, perhaps broken promises by superiors. They focus exclusively on the shortcomings of the organization and other people. Conformist Followers A conformist carries out any and all orders regardless of the nature of the tasks, participating willingly but without considering the consequences. The only concern is to avoid conflict. Pragmatic Followers This type of follower uses whatever style best benefits a personal position and minimizes risk. Pragmatic survivors emerge when the organization faces desperate times, and followers do whatever is needed to get themselves through the difficulty. Passive Follower Being passive and uncritical, this type of follower displays neither initiative nor a sense of responsibility. Passive followers are often the result of leaders who are over controlling and punish mistakes. Effective Follower Effective followers behave the same toward everyone, regardless of their position. They do not try to avoid risk or conflict. They initiate change and put themselves at risk to serve the best interest of the organization; they are characterized by both mindfulness and a willingness to act. Gandhis followers were more of a conformist kind as they complied to his orders irrespective of whatever he asked them to do. Evidence of this was found after the salt satyagrah when they went ahead and took the beatings irrespective of the consequences without any retaliation. When Gandhi called for a salt satyagrah because of unlawful enforcement of taxes on salt millions of people marched behind him. Also the appeal made by Gandhiji to give up the western clothes and use those made in India was exemplary of how followers were ignorant of the consequences. It was the kind of influence Gandhi had on them and the trust they showed on Gandhis decisions. Development as a Leader To be optimally effective, leadership development must be consistent with an organizations competitive strategy as well as with other human resources activities (Day2000; McCall, 1998). In the context of above description we can say that Gandhis leadership skills developed from those in South Africa to those in India. Even though what was common at both places were his belief on his principles. From being a leader of a community he turned to become a leader of masses. In South Africa Gandhi fought in suite and tie he wore same clothes as people there. He was not an eloquent speaker at that time as he was suggested to improve on those skills of his. His strong beliefs, courage and adamant attitude led a success in civil right movements in Africa. But when he came to India he knew it was a different battle all together, there were expectation of millions of people riding on his shoulder. He took his time to know the people of India went across the country lived with them and heard there problems personally. He adapted to the situations in India realising that Indian battle for independence cant be fought in same way as that in Africa. He led in an exemplary way in India, wore clothes of a peasant, lived in a small house, weaved his own clothes his approach was more on ethical bases. In the later part it can also be observed that he came out as a better and a confident speaker . Because of his understanding of the people he had a clear vision of how he wanted to lead the battle for independence. He was always in control of the situations that were going on in the country. His effective negotiations skills while dealing with the British authorities were the evidence of his maturity as a leader. Conclusion Movie Gandhi depicts a clear picture of Gandhi as a successful leader. Gandhi gave a nation to the people of India and satyagrah to the world one of the most revolutionary approach to struggle. Gandhi was a leader who inspired and still continues to inspire, people of all nation with his ethical and ideological legacy. Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and many other leaders follow his example. Frail, bespectacled figure with simple clothes and the ready smile led India to march on the path of glory on the basis of sheer principles and ethics which he preached and practiced. As he always said Be the change you want to see in the world.

Organizing Relationships Traditional and Emerging Perspectives on Workplace Relationships Essay

Business ethics               One of the issues that have raised concerns in business nowadays is the relationship between senior employees, and the junior employees of the opposite sex. For years, senior employees such as managers and directors have been accused of sexually or emotionally abusing the junior employees working under them. Some are even accused of threatening to dismiss the employees who decline their request for sexual favors from them. Though this may be seen as sexual harassment, the case might be something different from that. Simply because the relationship is between senior and a junior employee, it may not be right to rush to a conclusion that the boss is sexually or emotionally exploiting their subject. It may be a relationship that has developed naturally due to the level of intimacy of the two employees of the opposite gender.            The controversial nature of this issue is clearly portrayed in the mail online article of November 13th, 2013. The article explains that the report of a study carried out by business week has shown that most of these relationships between employees have nothing to do with harassment. During the survey, it was found out that most of the people working in the offices would be up to a sexual relationship with someone from their office if they got the chance. Of the 2500 respondents interviewed during the survey, 85 percent said it was right for employees within the company to be allowed to have sexual relationships. Some even confessed of sexually admiring their coworkers. After all this, why does the Human Resource department discourage intimate relationships between their employees of opposite gender? The answer is that they conclude that one of the parties in the relationship is sexually harassed, especially if one of the parties is the boss of the other.                Some people may accuse me of supporting the behavior of the bosses to engage in sexual relationships with their colleagues. But if we consider some working conditions in some organizations, we see that the relations originate absolutely from intimacy and not harassment. Consider the case of a male manager, who works with a lady as the personal secretary. It is very possible for the two to engage in an affair due to the intimacy created by the working conditions. The two attend meetings together, go for lunch together, spend time together in the office, sometimes they go together to attend meetings far from their place of work, and many other closely spent times. From all these close relation, is it not against the laws of nature for something more than boss-secretary relationship to happen? Ironically, when a relationship develops between the manager and his secretary, the manager will be accused of sexually harassing the secretary! In my opinion, the boss wo uld be emotionally harassing the secretary if he chose to ignore the feelings that develop after been together almost all the time.               It may also be arguable that boss-subject relationships may adversely affect the performance of the employees. Employees may be reluctant in their work simply because the boss, who is supposed to supervise their work, can not condemn them because of the existing bond. This may be the idea behind the fight by the human resource department against sexual relationships at the workplace. However, this may not always be the case. This relationship may boost the performance of an employee who will always be trying to be the best to impress the boss. The article workplace relationships on Wikipedia explain of a theory, Workplace Relationship Quality and information Experiences, which originated from a study conducted by Patricia Sias. The theory states the most productive employees are the ones with high access to information about their workplace. It is obvious that the employees with a relationship more than the ordinary workplace relationship have a higher access to business information. I may, therefore, be right to say that the boss-subject relationships can play an important part in boosting the productivity of the employees. The article further describes relationships at the workplace as â€Å"workplace romance†. It explains that though these relationships may not make the workplace so comfortable for other employees; it plays a very important part in the working of the parties involved in the affair. It increases performance due to high motivation and overall job satisfaction.               Even though some senior employees in some business organization sexually exploit their junior colleagues, let us not mistake every relationship for sexual exploitation or harassment. It is good to appreciate that these bosses and their subjects are just ordinary people and what makes their difference is only the working position and titles. When there is a relationship between two junior employees of opposite gender, this is taken to be an ordinary love relationship. Why then do we have to treat the seniors differently? Aren’t they the same as the juniors? What marks the difference is only job level. It is, therefore, necessary to analyze the situation before concluding that a boss is sexually harassing a junior workmate. References Sias, P. M. (2009). Organizing relationships traditional and emerging perspectives on workplace relationships. Los Angeles: SAGE. (https://www.goodreads.com/user/new?remember=true) Sias, P. M. (2008). Organizing Relationships Traditional and Emerging Perspectives on Workplace Relationships.. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications. (http://www.amazon.com/Organizing-Relationships-Traditional-Perspectives-Workplace/dp/1412957974) Source document

Is Gambling a Social Problem Essay

Gambling is an act of playing for stakes in the hope of winning. It also involves a significant risk as the material good (usually money) wagered in the game may be lost if the player does not win. Common forms of gambling include cockfighting (which usually results in the death of one or both roosters), casinos (which has become a profitable business), slot machines (convenient for those who want to play individually), bookmaking (often used for predicting the winners of sports competitions), and caracruz (simplest form of gambling which has existed since ancient history). There is an ongoing debate among social scientists, psychologists, business lobby groups, and others on the benefits and dangers of gambling. Some anti-gambling social activists argue that gambling is a serious social problem, while others argue that gambling problem is a problem of certain individuals who suffer from psychological ills and that in certain circumstances gambling on the contrary is a significant source of income (for example, for Native American tribes). Gambling Is a Social Problem ?Gambling is associated with a range of social issues and thus needs to be designated as a social problem. According to research on the topic, there is a correlation between various social problems and gambling. For example, Hardoon et al. , point out in their study that gambling problem among adolescents they studied stemmed from the lack of healthy familial and peer support, drug use problems, behavioral problems, problems related to family issues, and the parental gambling problems as well as their substance abuse. According to Hardoon et al. , there is a significant familial contribution to gambling problems. Read more:  Ã‚  Essays on Social Issues Many of their respondents said that their elder siblings had a strong influence in their decisions to experience gambling. Many of the respondents who suffered from gambling problems said that their parents themselves were problem gamblers. The study by Hardoon et al. , also points out that children of problem gamblers suffered from insecurity and a sense of â€Å"pervasive loss† (170). They also argue that gambling problem among parents leads to various kinds of familial dysfunctioning, including drug addiction, conduct problems, and delinquency. Hardoon et al. , also point out that there is a connection between gambling and substance use. â€Å"Compared to nongamblers,† they write, â€Å"adolescent gamblers are more likely to drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, and use drugs† (171). Gamblers are three times more likely to use drugs than non-gamblers. Gambling and substance use problems among adolescents often leads to delinquency and illegal behavior. Adolescents suffering from serious gambling problems are also likely to experience difficulty in school such as decreased academic performance and poor grades. More than half of the problem gamblers Hardoon et al. , studied suffered from conduct problems as well. They were more likely to break rules, get into troubles with individuals in authority, frequently display oppositional behavior, and join anti-social activities (171). This study in general demonstrates that the gambling problem is part of larger social issues and there is a clear correlation between gambling and various social problems. Another study on the impact of gambling on college students suggests that about 1. 6% of the U. S. dult population meets the diagnostic criteria for pathological gambling (Level 1), and 3,85% reportedly suffer from subclinical (Level 2) gambling problems. Among college students, the rate of gambling problem on both levels is twice as high as it is among the general adult population. There are significant social and health-related problems associated with adolescent gambling problems. Adolescents and young adults addicted to gambling suffer from serious stress-related problems. Many of them attempt and even complete suicides. Among these adolescents and young adults, the rate of disorderly familial relationships is much higher. There is a higher rate of comorbidity with other addictive disorders, and there are more frequent instances among these adolescents and young adults of arrests and convictions. The study concludes that â€Å"social norms–based social marketing campaigns (emphasizing accurate descriptive norms for alcohol) to successfully reduce alcohol use on campus† needs to be reworked and applied for combating gambling problems among college students (Larimer & Neighbors 241-242). This is another testament to the fact that gambling is a social problem and that the way to reduce it is to employ tools which are used for combating other social problems. Illuminating in this case is the experience of Native American tribes in the United States. With the passing of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in 1988, which mandated legislative basis for managing and regulating Indian gaming, the number of casinos has sharply risen in Native American communities. As a result of this, one study of this phenomenon points out, Native Americans â€Å"are four to six times more likely to be pathological gamblers and two to five times more likely to be problem gamblers than non-Indians† (Momper 139). The study also cites poverty, unemployment, and historical injustice as factors that contribute to the development of gambling problems among indigenous groups. According to this study, there is a similar correlation between the practice of excessive gambling and predisposition to other social and behavioral problems such as alcoholism, drug use, and disruptive behavior among Native American groups—but in significantly higher numbers than it is among non-Indians in the United States. Gambling is Not a Social Problem ?While it is true that gambling addiction, just like any other addictive behaviors such as alcohol addiction or drug addiction, is a social problem, gambling itself is not a social problem. Participants of gambling make conscious decisions and they have the freedom to stop the practice whenever they think it is detrimental to their financial, psychological, and social conditions. For example, in the year 1999 the National Gambling Impact Study Commission surveyed the U. S. opulation and found out that 86% of Americans had gambled some time in their lives, and that 68% gambled in 1999 alone (Seligman 86). Out of this large segment of the population who regularly gamble, only a tiny percentage of the population suffers from serious gambling problems. ?Discussions over the use of gambling are sometimes controversial because it is one of the businesses in America which has a bad reputation, on the one hand, and is so popular that more and more Americans are demanding gambling opportunities, on the other. Due to its popularity, gambling has been legalized in all states except Hawaii, Tennessee, and Utah. Residents of these states also gamble, by traveling to other states or by taking advantage of online gambling opportunities. Total wagering in the Unites States is around $900 billion a year (constituting 10% of personal income), and the lion’s share of wagering takes place in casinos ($600 billion). And casinos now exist in twenty nine states. But these are official figures and unofficially the extent of gambling among Americans is likely to be much higher (Seligman 87). Gambling in the United States is a legitimate form of business, and designating it a social problem would necessitate that we label other legitimate forms of business as social problems as well. As Seligman points out, â€Å"Wall Street offers plenty of bets with risk/reward opportunities that mirror those of slot machines—a long shot with occasional huge payout. Buying out-of-the-money puts on an airline stock just before a union vote would fall in that category. If the members unexpectedly vote against wage concessions, you could make a killing on the bankruptcy† (Seligman 89). Some critics of gambling who criticize it from an economic perspective, say that, while gambling consumes time, energy, and resources, it does not produce any real output. But that argument can be used against most kinds of financial transactions and speculating, both of which are acceptable, and in today’s world, necessary components of international financing. As for the charge that problem gambling leads to comorbidity with other social problems such as alcohol abuse and drug use, more research is required to determine the nuances of this connection. Does excessive gambling lead to alcohol abuse or is it the way around? If it is the former, then it is the problem of gambling addiction which needs to be labeled a social problem and remedied. If it is the latter, then it is the problem of alcoholism rather than gambling because alcohol abusers have more than one way of ruing their lives (gambling is not their only option), and even here the issue is the abusive consumption of alcohol, not alcohol consumption in general. Those who see gambling as a social problem ignore the fact that gambling may—and in many cases it does—lead to positive social outcomes. This is generally the case in the Indian reservations in the U. S. As Momper points out, an IGRA passage which aimed at encouraging gambling on reservations for the purpose of raising the standards of living on the poorest reservations â€Å"was the only federal policy that produced lasting effects for tribes, inasmuch as the unemployment rate (38 percent) on 214 reservations with casinos decreased by 13 percent from 1989 to 1995. Even if one takes into account the increase in the number of problem gamblers, other social and economic gains from casinos on reservations greatly outweighed the negative consequences of this business. In addition to creating jobs, casinos on reservations provided the American Indian community with various social services and strengthened their social bonds (Momper 142; Cornell et al. , 1998). While it is true that gambling addiction as increased among American Indian residents as a result of building casinos, in many instances improvements in standards of living took many of them out of poverty, decreasing the rate of behavioral problems and anti-social activities. ?In summary, both proponents of gambling-is-a-social-problem thesis and their opponents have strong arguments at hand. The debate is likely to continue without being resolved as it is a controversial topic and gambling among the U. S. population leads to mixed results: both positive and negative.

Analysis Growth of Two Companies- Iggle and Piggle Free Essay Example, 3500 words

The company Piggle plc had a return on capital employed of 20% with the return on equity of 10% which is determined by the ratio of net income to the total equity of the company. The net profit margin of the company that is, the profit after interest but before payment of tax is said to be 9%. For the company, the average settlement period of debtors and the average settlement period of creditors are 25 days and 45 days respectively. The stock holding period of the company is 21 days with a gross profit margin of 27%. The company had 3 times of fixed asset turnover and a capital gearing ratio of 15%. The current ratio of the company is 9:1 and the acid test ratio is 1:1. This company had a price earning (PE) ratio of 10.For the evaluation of business performance of two firms, the most helpful and significant method is the ratio analysis. The different ratios used in ratio analysis helps in determining the relative performance of two companies and their valuations. The ratio analysis provides the overall profile along with the economic characteristics and the competitive strategies of the company. We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis Growth of Two Companies- Iggle and Piggle or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page